Briefs

Respiratory Rx applies local touch FALMOUTH, Maine - Trying to fill the void left by the sale of a local company, Tech-Med IV, to respiratory giant Apria, Patty Kenney decided to open her own business and Maine Nebs was born. Maine Nebs is a small pharmacy specializing in respiratory medications, such as albuterol, ipratropium and Duoneb, and Kenney thinks people in the area will jump at the chance to get these prescriptions from a local pharmacy instead of through mail-order companies. “I think people sometime feel like they are lost in the shuffle if they are working out of some place that is a 1,000 miles from home,” she said. To distinguish herself from the recent boom in mail order companies, Kenney said she will work closely with the client and their physician, giving them specialized, personal care. Matria, Pfizer team up on DSM MARIETTA, Ga. - Matria Healthcare and Pfizer Health Solutions recently entered a strategic collaboration that will bring the two companies together to devise proposals to provide disease management services to state Medicaid beneficiaries, health plans and employers. The plans for collaboration include working on Matria's disease management services for a range of lifestyle-related conditions, including diabetes, adult and pediatric asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high-risk pregnancy and depression. ChoiceCare adds OptionCare to network BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. and LOUISILLE, Ky. - ChoiceCare Network, the national PPO network of Humana, recently reached an agreement that added Option Care to its network of 2,800 hospitals and more than 360,000 physicians and ancillary care providers. Under the agreement, which became effective on October 1, 2003, members of health care plans supported by ChoiceCare Network will be eligible to receive a range of home care and ancillary health care services, including infusion therapies, offered by Option Care at in-network benefit levels through the company's network of 130 franchise locations nationwide. Option Care is a leading national specialty pharmacy and infusion services provider